Not really a photographer, as most of the pics I take turn out BORING, but I wanted to tell everyone here how amazing their work all is, and felt weird about doing it without posting a pic, so the above is a photo of my house that I've very quickly made colorful in Corel Paint Shop Pro to show my roommate what different color trim would look like... which spiraled out of hand when they (my rm's) started shouting out things like "Flowers everywhere!" and "Pink roof!"

If you're wondering, the front door really looks like that, and we're in the process of painting the trim to actually look like that Mac and Cheese yellow/orange...

Pro/Am. I'm a photographer from Sri Lanka - learned photography partly by myself and partly by osmosis. Fleeing to America for four months on assignment soon. Can't wait. I hear you can now be arrested in the UK if the coppers suspect you might be a phototerrorist. Can't wait for the Yanks to break my kneecaps.

More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deshan/http://deshan.wordpress.com/http://www.thebigpicturelibrary.com/deshan

@thewaltonsare - There are pro shooters doing pro level work, selling to magazines, using point-and-shoot cameras. The gear is just tools, and as with any form of art it's the person using them that makes it work. Better tools make things easier, but if you don't know how to use them properly there's no point. I suffer from ridiculous gear envy, and it's pointlessly discouraging. Get out there and shoot with what you've got. Learn your camera's settings and how to manipulate light in your favor. Get as good as you can with what you've got and when you DO get better gear, some things may get easier but you'll still be taking great shots.

I did a lot of photography in college when I had a better 35mm film camera. I even used to develop my own negs and pictures in the darkroom at school. I miss having a nice camera I guess. You're right, I should just get out there and see what I can do with what I've got :)

@ Angeldye - yeah, the quality of the pictures was pretty good, it was the on lag and shutter lag and battery life that killed me. But when seeing my pictures online, I used to get alot of questions regarding what kind of camera I used, and the reactions were always of shock. Further proving Bcslaski's point, it's all about what you do with what you got, not about what you got.

As Ted (or was it Bill?) said: It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools. But dude, it totally rocks to have bitchen tools.

Oahu Palms, Canon DSLR:

That said, I'm with Winogrand and Cartier-Bresson. Be there at the moment, and be shooting whether it's with an SLR w/ a 50mm prime, a mondo large format Ansel Adams rig, or with a digi point & shoot. Be there shooting, at the moment.